Between Sanusi’s idealism and Jonathan’s realism

Far more than the furore that greeted his remarks in 2010 about the National Assembly spending 25 percent of the Federal Government overhead annually, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has again infuriated his enemies and united them effortlessly against himself. The list of his enemies is growing. Speaking with peerless candour at a seminar in Warri a few days ago, Sanusi told his stunned audience that if the nation wished to free resources for development, the government must have the courage to eliminate the third tier of government, that is, the local government, halve the staff strength of public sector workers, reduce the size of the National Assembly, and forswore the creation of more states. In that one swing of the axe, Sanusi ensured that he would have no friends among local government workers, among civil servants who interpreted his call as unfriendly and disparaging, and among national legislators who see him as probably the most irreverent and acerbic of all government appointees.

Predictably, his now united enemies have in turn called for his sack, describing him as uneducated and incompetent. In fact the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the umbrella union of Nigerian workers, has specifically drawn his attention to his indefensible and insufficient understanding of the term civil servants. Sanusi had indicated that 70 percent of the budget was spent on salaries and entitlements for public sector workers, leaving a meagre 30 percent for development purposes. But if Sanusi knew the difference between civil servants and public servants, said the General Secretary, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, he would recognise that the entire civil service strength is below 100,000, and that the public service, comprising the Army, Navy, Customs, EFCC, NAFDAC, among others, has 970,000 workers. In other words, if Sanusi knew this distinction, would he still call for a drastic cut?

But the NLC’s umbrage was even fiercer. Said Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, its president: “We see in Sanusi an agent of death that must be defeated and crushed before he further destroys the Nigerian economy. While President Jonathan is promising to create more jobs, Sanusi is calling for mass sack of civil servants in a country with one of the highest number of unemployed, which has indeed led to gross deprivation and the current state of insecurity in Nigeria. While we believe the Federal Government will ignore the ranting of this hollow economist, Sanusi has never demonstrated patriotism in all his advice on economic and financial management in Nigeria.”

It was clear Sanusi spoke with the impersonal penchant of a man obsessed with figures and with balancing of books or budgets. He did not speak as a politician, and could not have, for his lifetime ambition is either to be a top banker, which he has achieved, or a traditional ruler, which he still pants for. Both offices admit of candour, especially the indescribably unfeeling variety he has managed to imbibe. He must indeed consider himself lucky to be living in these times, when the grave contradictions undermining societal cohesion and progress have made his frankness tolerable, even admirable. Had he come to maturity decades ago, and rose to become an emir, he would have been vulnerable to deposition.

If the NLC will gun for Sanusi, so too will the National Assembly redouble its effort to subvert his talents. The legislature had driven him to distraction with repeated summons a few months ago, to the point that he exasperatingly wailed he was tired of being summoned. He will wail the more in the coming months. However, no one has said anything about Sanusi’s sensible denunciation of the loathsome effort to create more states. It is impossible to fault his premise on the argument against state creation. There is indeed no reason on earth to create more states, and it does not seem it will be done, at least not this decade.

Nigeria can use the candour and common sense of someone like Sanusi. But whether that candour befits a CBN governor is a different thing altogether. Nor is it likely that President Goodluck Jonathan will find Sanusi’s brave talk amusing. Jonathan is a politician, and he has an election to win in 2015, if he decides to contest. Sanusi on the other hand has no election to contest or even win. Instead he has repeatedly announced he has a death wish – to be sacked. For someone who derives fulfillment in speaking candidly and making people squirm, which characteristics he deeply covets, the last thing on his mind is to please anyone or suffer fools gladly. Sanusi may have spoken idealistically, but Jonathan can be relied upon to act realistically.

Sanusi spoke the truth. Those that disagree with him should visit the Local Government Area Councils around Delta State during working hours.

Tunde

The yorubas have a saying that its the lack of sucint clarification that kills the first elenpe who claims calabash rather than freshly moulded calabash is heavier than ceramic plate. Sanusi should have taken the pain to hit the nail more on the head. Its the cost of public servants and running democracy in this country rather than civil service that is running down the economy. Indeed, state creation is just a rat race